Convergent Morphological Evolution in Silene Sect. Italicae (Caryophyllaceae) in the Mediterranean Basin

Recent divergence can obscure species boundaries among closely related taxa. Silene section Italicae (Caryophyllaceae) has been taxonomically controversial, with about 30 species described. We investigate species delimitation within this section using 500 specimens sequenced for one nuclear and two plastid markers. Despite the use of a small number of genes, the large number of sequenced samples allowed confident delimitation of 50% of the species. The delimitation of other species (e.g., Silene nemoralis, S. nodulosa and S. andryalifolia) was more challenging. We confirmed that seven of the ten chasmophyte species in the section are not related to each other but are, instead, genetically c…